Two 'male' pawns, two 'female' pawns, one king, one queen, a rook, and a knight need to cross a river using a single boat. The boat can support maximum two pieces at a time, and one piece (in the boat) must be a major piece, or the king, in order to cross.

In addition,- the 'female' pawns don't like having the king around if the queen is not present- the 'male' pawns don't like having the queen around if the king is not present- the knight cannot be left with any pawns, queen, or king, unless the rook is present

How can all of them cross under these circumstances?

Countdown #27 - Camel StoryValue: 1 point for each correct answer to the following questions

Question 1 -What are the names of the camels and how were these names chosen?

Question 2 - What did the camels say the chess king looked like?

Question 3 - How did chess lose its status as a 'royal game'?

Question 4 - What is the name of the tournament Oscar will play in?

Countdown #28 - Brain Teaser

Value: 2 points

In a single move, Johnny moved his king two squares, but did not castle. How is this possible?

Countdown #29 - Top Ten IIValue: 1 point per correct blank filled in.

Top 10 ways to signal you want to resign a chess game:

(note: not all methods are necessarily recommended!)

1. Say "I resign".2. ______ hands.3. Tip down your ______.4. Stop the ______.5. Write "you win" on your scorepad and show it to your opponent.6. Stare at your opponent angrily, then ______ out of the room.7. Sweep all the ______ off the board. (http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/etiquette-on-resigning)8. Offer to ______ again.9. Spell it out using toothpicks?10. Disconnect your ______.

Countdown #30 - How well do you know your blog writer?Value: 1 point for each correct answer to the following questions

Question 1 - What are my favourite colours?(a) Red and green...Christmas spirit!(b) Yellow and orange...now that's sunny!(c) Blue and purple...they're so 'cool'!(d) Any colour, as long as it's in the rainbow!

Question 2 - What do I like to drink when I need an energy boost?(a) An energy drink, duh!(b) Vanilla cappuccino(c) Coke Zero(d) Plain water

Question 3 - What is my favourite thing to do over the holidays?(a) Shop(b) Sleep(c) Visit friends(d) Wrap gifts

Question 4 - I was once asked what food I could live off of for the rest of my life. What was my answer?(a) Ice cream(b) Apples(c) Whole wheat pitas and tzatziki(d) I can't choose!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Value: 2 points if you fill half the board, 5 points if you fill the whole board.

A knight moves in an L-shape, at times making it difficult to see where it is planning to go. With a knight starting on h1, can you create a path of knight moves that touches every square (see modified rule) on a standard 8 x 8 board once and only once, and ends on the square a8?

Modified rule: The knight is shy and wants to avoid the centre. Touch every square except e4, d4, e5, and d5.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Finally, the gift guide! This is a short list of products I have found to be/look interesting. However, these are only some of many ideas...I encourage you to look around for more (or for similar items)! If I come across anything else, I'll add another list later on. Got to go holiday shopping now :S

My high school teacher introduced me to Blokus. It's a great game, especially for chess players. This is the portable version. $16.99.

- Up to 6 points availableCryptogram #1: “It is the aim of the modern school, not to treat every position according to one general law, but according to the principle inherent in the position." (1 point)- Richard Reti (1 point)Cryptogram #2:“What is the object of playing a gambit opening? To acquire a reputation of being a dashing player at the cost of losing a game.” (1 point)- Siegbert Tarrasch (1 point)

Cryptogram #3:"A good sacrifice is one that is not necessarily sound but leaves your opponent dazed and confused." (1 point)- Rudolph Spielmann (1 point)

Countdown #8 - Would You Rather? x5- Up to 5 points available1.Would you rather play chess with Santa over candy canes and a steamy cup of hot chocolate, or play chess with Frosty over a tasty plateful of cookies and a cup of milk/chocolate milk (that you obviously took from Santa!)?

Playing chess against a snowman seems more like a 'once in a blue moon' opportunity. Plus, I'm not a huge fan of eating candy canes. (1 point for any appropriate answer)

2.Would you rather go ice skating or snowboarding after a weekend chess tournament?

Ice skating! Snowboarding is too intense after a hard set of games. (1 point for any appropriate answer)

3.Would you rather participate in a tiebreaker involving a snowball fight or a snowman-building competition?

Depends on my opponent. Against a more aggressive/less patient opponent, I would choose snowman-building. Against a passive/more patient opponent, perhaps a snowball fight! (1 point for any appropriate answer)

4.Would you rather take chess advice from an elf or a reindeer?

Neither...they're all working for Santa... (1 point for any appropriate answer)

5.Would you rather drive two hours through a blizzard to get to a chess event or walk in the cold for fourty-five minutes?

Usually I like to walk, but seeing that I can't really play a chess game as an icicle, the drive would have to do. (1 point for any appropriate answer)Countdown #9 - Joke!- Up to 5 points availableWhy did Frosty the Snowman use icicles at the beginning of his chess game?

Countdown #14 - Joke III - Up to 5 points availableWhy doesn't Rudolph like to play speed chess?Answer: He always loses to Blitzen! (5 points for correct guess, 2 points for any creative guess)Countdown #15 - 16 - Top Ten- Up to 7 points available1. Wrap is too small(1 point), and you must squeeze it tightly together to fit.2. Wrap tears/breaks(1 point) while wrapping, so you have to rewrap or tape up the hole.3. The gift itself has an odd shape(1 point), such as pointy or rounded ends.4. Running out of tape/wrap.5. Finding out someone used all the ribbon(1 point) for an art project. Now how will you be able to decorate the gift?6. Realizing you wrapped the wrong gift (or gave it to the wrong person).7. The wrap indents or creases and is hard to tape as a result.8. Getting stuck wrapping too many gifts late(1 point) at night.9.Throwing(1 point) away the mounds of waste wrap/tape.10. For some people, gift wrapping(1 point) altogether!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Just for fun, here are some holiday gift wrapping pet peeves. Try to fill in the blanks. Can you think of any other wrapping peeves (1 bonus point)?

1. Wrap is too ______, and you must squeeze it tightly together to fit.2. Wrap ______ while wrapping, so you have to rewrap or tape up the hole.3. The gift itself has an odd ______, such as pointy or rounded ends.4. Running out of tape/wrap.5. Finding out someone used all the ______ for an art project. Now how will you be able to decorate the gift?6. Realizing you wrapped the wrong gift (or gave it to the wrong person).7. The wrap indents or creases and is hard to tape as a result.8. Getting stuck wrapping too many gifts ______ at night.9. ______ away the mounds of waste wrap/tape.10. For some people, _______________ altogether!

I will be posting answers to countdown questions (for those following along at home) + a very last minute gift guide sometime next week. I'm sorry I haven't been able to post every day -- and will not be able to for a few more -- because my roommates and I have to conserve our monthly Internet usage. As a result, I have decided to find some way to give a small gift to all my readers (any ideas?) instead of one prize to a contest winner. Hope everyone is having a great season :)

This one's pretty simple - all your have to do is send your answers to these "would you rather" questions. Your answer does not have to match my answer, does not need a lengthy explanation, and as long as it answers the question appropriately ("appropriately" means not just random answers that make no sense), it will score the point(s)!

1.Would you rather play chess with Santa over candy canes and a steamy cup of hot chocolate, or play chess with Frosty over a tasty plateful of cookies and a cup of milk/chocolate milk (that you obviously took from Santa!)?

2.Would you rather go ice skating or snowboarding after a weekend chess tournament?

3.Would you rather participate in a tiebreaker involving a snowball fight or a snowman-building competition?

4.Would you rather take chess advice from an elf or a reindeer?

5.Would you rather drive two hours through a blizzard to get to a chess event or walk in the cold for fourty-five minutes?

The images below can be found throughout this blog. Find the post containing the image (not including this post), and send a list of dates (of the posts) and a brief description of the content the image was associated with.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

It seems some people were too busy to have a look at the first few contest puzzles, so instead of adding a new one today, I decided to give everyone an extended opportunity to complete countdown puzzles # 1 - 4. Send in your answers before 11:59 pm EST on Friday December 10, 2010 to receive a bonus 2 points for countdown #5 (you will receive these points as long as you attempt the puzzles, even if some of your answers are incorrect).

In a non-standard chess game, there are three types of pieces - pawns, knights and rooks. They have non-standard values which cause them to be in balance in the first two situations (scales). How many rooks are needed to replace the question mark to balance the third scale?

The phrases below have been encoded, with each number representing a unique letter. Each cryptogram contains a different code, so if A = 1 in one cryptogram, A may not equal 1 in another.

Your job is to decode the quote (1 point each), and find out who said it (1 point each - hint: you can just put the quote into a search engine like Google once it is decoded). Don't forget to send in your answers -your answers can simply be the quote and speaker - you don't have to send a chart of letters/numbers.

Note: click the cryptogram for a slightly better view!

(Sorry the cryptogram below has a title that won't seem to stay centred like the other two - I may have to fix that later :D)

The images below were found on various chess-related sites, all of which can be found in the quick links on the side bar. You are to find the image's original location, record the exact web address, and then send me your list of answers (web addresses).

Friends/family - please consider making a donation to the Elaine Howie Fund in place of gifts you would otherwise give me. Even $5 or $10 helps ensure children are recognized for their efforts. All donated money is paid out to recipients. I provide the additional certificates/prizes/miscellaneous expenses as my own contribution.